Hydrogenation of nitrobenzene catalyzed by Pd promoted Ni supported on C60 derivative

Abstract

Pd promoted Ni supported on C60 derivative was prepared and employed to catalyze the hydrogenation of nitrobenzene (NB). The effects of the function groups of C60 derivatives and Pd on the catalytic performance of Ni-based catalyst were investigated. The characterizations illustrated that the function groups of C60 derivatives significantly affected the chemical state of Ni and Pd, which resulted in different catalytic performance. In addition, Pd as a promoter promoted the in-situ reduction of Ni under mild conditions via hydrogen spillover. Pd-Ni-N-C60, derived from C60-ethanediamine derivative with the molar ratio of Ni to Pd of 6:1, exhibited excellent catalytic performance. The high surface contents of Pd0, electron-rich Ni species and the synergistic effect between Pd, Ni and C60-ethanediamine were responsible for the outstanding catalytic performance. Under 70 °C and 1.0 MPa of H2, the nitrobenzene conversation of 98.0% and the aniline selectivity of 98.2% were obtained over Pd-6Ni-N-C60 with the reaction rate of 36.7 mol NB/(mol metal·min). The H2 pressure in the range of 0.1 MPa and 0.8 MPa obviously affected the aniline selectivity at 90 °C.